We're All Stories in the End, Just Make It a Good One, Eh?
by Aiden St. Felix
Summary: Superheroes are supposed to be big, strong, and powerful. They're supposed to be admired by the public. That's how most people viewed the Avengers. So how does Elisa Martínez fit into all this? She's a freshman in high school. She's not big or strong or powerful. People don't admire her. In fact, hardly anyone notices her. So why did she have to get tangled into superhero business?
1. Chapter I

_Dear diary: why..._  
 _Why do they hate me?_  
 _Why don't I fight back?_  
 _Why do I act like such a creep? (Why...)_  
 _Why won't he date me?_  
 _Why did I hit him?_  
 _Why do I cry myself to sleep? (Why...)_  
 _Somebody hug me!_  
 _Somebody fix me!_  
 _Somebody save me!_  
 _Send me a sign, God!_  
 _Give me some hope here!_  
 _Something to live for!_

-Beautiful; **performed by Katie Ladner, Alice Lee, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Barrett Wilbert Weed & Elle McLemore in the performance, Heathers: The Musical**

* * *

"It's not your fault. You know that, right?" Elisa's eyes flickered to her mother, Marjorie Martínez. Both were battered and bloodied, having been taken to the hospital by one of their neighbors. Elisa's father, Adrien Rodriguez, had paid them a visit for the first time in four years. Needless to say, it didn't end well. Adrien had a habit of visiting his ex-wife and daughter when it was convenient for him; which usually meant when he needed a place to stay and money for whatever he needed. Marjorie always complained about how much she hated Adrien's manipulative behavior, how she couldn't _stand_ her ex-husband using her and their daughter as an excuse to get some kind of personal gain. But Elisa noticed how each and every time Adrien appeared with some kind of elaborate story, some kind of tragic tale of despair, Marjorie would let him in. She'd let him stay for as long as he wanted and give him whatever money she had in her purse. But once Adrien hit the road, Marjorie would throw a tantrum and start ranting on how she hated being used and abused by Adrien Rodriguez.

Each and every time, Elisa had to calm her mother down.

The relationship between Marjorie and Adrien was less than perfect. Obviously. The two married young when Marjorie fell pregnant at eighteen. Marjorie ended up dropping out of school to raise her and Adrien's son, Julian. A year and a half after Julian came Mary Katherine, then three years later came Elisa. Unfortunately, with each child came a problem in Adrien's and Marjorie's marriage. Not long after Julian's birth, Adrien developed a serious drinking problem. Marjorie was aware that her then-husband liked the occasional drink, but having to raise a child at such a young age seemed to push Adrien over the edge. After Mary Katherine's birth, Adrien started spending less and less time at home. By the time Elisa came around, things became violent. The strain in the marriage led to Adrien and Marjorie fighting often, something their three children had become accustomed to. Shouting matches, insulting and belittling each other, things breaking and smashing against the wall.

Julian did his best to protect his sisters, to keep his parents' fighting as far from them as possible. Mary Katherine helped when she could, but Julian was adamant that _he_ should be the one protecting them. It was his duty as their big brother.

Elisa remembered the police being called on multiple occasions because of the fighting. Sometimes Adrien would get arrested, other times Marjorie would get arrested. Sometimes they'd _both_ get arrested. More than once did Elisa and her siblings have to go live with relatives because of their parents. Then Marjorie finally filed for divorce and eventually gained sole custody of her children. Adrien moved out without so much as a goodbye. The first few months after the divorce, things were looking nicely. Marjorie was working towards her GED, Julian was starting high school in the fall, Mary Katherine was entering her final year of middle school, and Elisa was actually able to invite friends over. That was something none of the Martínez children had done before, thanks to their parents. Without Adrien, the kids were able to bring as many friends over as they wanted, and Marjorie was OK with that.

Sadly, after about six months with no contact with him, Adrien started weasling his way back into their lives. Julian tried convincing his mother to cut all ties with him, but Marjorie didn't have it in her to do so. Part of her still cared for Adrien, despite everything that happened. Because of her willingness to bring him back, that put a strain on the relationship between her and her children. Eventually, Julian got tired of it all and moved out to live with his grandparents in New Jersey. Mary Katherine had called some cousins who lived nearby and requested she live with them. She didn't want to be bothered with switching schools the way Julian had. With both her older siblings out of the picture, that meant Elisa had to deal with whatever problems came with her parents' toxic relationship.

The fighting between Marjorie and Adrien still occurred, and more than once Marjorie would get the shit beaten out of her because of Adrien's outbursts. It also didn't help that Marjorie still kept a lot of her ex-husband's favorite alcohol around so that he could get wasted. Alcohol added to Adrien's violent tendencies, which meant the beatings would more severe. For a couple years, however, Adrien's attention never went to Elisa, which she was thankful for. But once she was in middle school, Elisa grew tired of hearing her mother getting beat whenever her father sauntered back to the apartment. Elisa _tried_ to intervene, but her father lashed out on her instead. Adrien broke Elisa's nose, cracked a few bones, and caused a lot of bruising. The cops were called again and Elisa was put into protective care for the rest of that year. Marjorie eventually got Elisa back and managed to convince authorities that she was a wonderful mother and she wouldn't let Adrien anywhere in their apartment again. Of course, Elisa knew better.

"Sometimes I wish I'd left like Jules and Mary did," Elisa said, looking at her mother. The look on the fourteen year old's face was nearly expressionless. "Then I wouldn't have to deal with this."

The look on Marjorie's face would've broken Elisa's heart, but she was in too much pain to really care. Adrien's beating had been especially brutal, and it meant that Elisa would have to spend a good amount of time in the hospital getting examined.

"Elle, I know this isn't healthy. . . .," Marjorie started.

"Don't give me that crap." The young girl's voice was mumbled, but the bitterness was still evident. "You say that over and over again but you still bring him in. You're full of shit, you know that?"

"Don't you _dare_. . . ."

"What?" Elisa's gaze went back to her mother's, her brown eyes glittering with anger. "He's not even supposed to be with us anymore but you keep bringing him in. Then you throw some big temper tantrum whenever he leaves. He beats the shit out of us and you still won't do anything about it. I'm _tired_ of this. Why do you think Jules and Mary left?"

Marjorie looked at her youngest daughter for a long while. It was true, Adrien wasn't supposed to be in their lives anymore, but Marjorie just couldn't help herself. But at the same time, she didn't expect Elisa to understand so well. Hell, Marjorie still had difficulties understanding it all sometimes. She couldn't understand why she felt so compelled to let Adrien back in every single time he showed up. She tried chalking it up as part of her still caring for him, but it just didn't seem to be reasonable! Why would she still care for someone who treated his family so badly? It was a question that Marjorie just couldn't make herself answer. But Elisa. . . .she seemed to have some kind of grasp on everything. Or _some_ things.

"You're right," Marjorie said. "I've made things difficult for you and your siblings. I haven't been a good mother. There are going to be some big changes, I promise."

 **~o.o.o.o~**

Thinking back to that day always had Elisa remembering all the things that _did_ end up changing her life. As it would turn out, Marjorie's promise for "big changes" would happen, but it would turn out for the better for Elisa. Because of the severity of Adrien's beatings on mother and daughter, child protective services had been called and Elisa had been temporarily taken out of Marjorie's custody until things were sorted out. _That_ was Elisa's opportunity. She told the workers everything. Every little detail. They listened intently, taking notes and asking questions. Elisa made sure to answer them with as much detail as possible, and that was when a conclusion was made. Once their wounds had healed, there would be a court date in place for Marjorie's parental rights to be permanently revoked.

As for Julian and Mary Katherine, the family members they resided in would be contacted, but Elisa couldn't say for sure if they'd undergo the same procedures she would.

But as time went on in that hospital room, Elisa felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She was going to be free of the toxicity of her mother and father. She would be able to start over somewhere else with someone new. She'd finally get the chance to start over, just like Julian and Mary Katherine had. It was _finally_ Elisa's time.

Marjorie had been less than pleased with everything that went on. She fought day in and day out to keep custody and rights over her youngest daughter, but eventually lost. After their physical wounds had healed and they appeared in court, and with plenty of evidence piled up, Marjorie's parental rights were taken away and Elisa was sent to live with relatives. It was a new beginning, and Elisa Martínez was going to enjoy every single moment.

Unfortunately, though, neither Julian nor Mary Katherine appeared in court. They refused to do any legal action, and while Elisa could possibly understand why they did what they did, part of her still wondered why? Why didn't they want to fight against their mother? Why wouldn't they want to _do_ something? Was moving out really the only thing that was important to them?

Those questions rattled on in Elisa's head from time to time, but she learned to not let them bother her. Her siblings made their choices and they were content with them. After the court hearings, Elisa was sent to live with her cousin, Alma Menendez, in Brooklyn. Alma had been given guardianship over Elisa until her eighteenth birthday. It was a relief on the young girl's part; she was finally able to relax in a newer, better environment. But there was also the fact that she had little to no knowledge on who Alma was. Elisa's cousin, from what she'd been told, was from Marjorie's side of the family and she had been pretty close to the Martínez family up until the divorce. After Adrien and Marjorie divorced, Alma wasn't able to come visit very often. One of those reasons being that Alma had recently given birth to her first child. For Elisa, however, she couldn't say that she had any kind of relationship with her cousin beforehand. Alma's visits were limited, considering she lived in Brooklyn and Elisa's family lived in Manhattan. Julian's and Mary Katherine's relationship with their cousin was well established, but Elisa just couldn't form that kind of bond in the beginning.

But once it was stated that she'd be living with Alma in Brooklyn, Elisa knew that she'd at least be able to have _some_ kind of relationship with her.

And that's how Elisa ended up where she is today.

* * *

 **(A/N):**

 **A chapter that's long overdue, I get it. I didn't intend for it to take this long for the chapter to come up, but school and work has been a total bitch. Hopefully my next updates won't take as long. Other than that, how'd you guys like the chapter? Was it good? Was it bad? Was it meh? Did I put in too much information or not enough? I'd just like to know your thoughts on all of this right now.**

 **Disclaimer : This story takes place before CA:CW, so I guess it's like an origin story for Peter and my OC. Since this is a kind of origin story, Peter doesn't have his spidey powers yet. As for my OC, she'll have powers of her own, but I'll go into detail on it later on. Also, nothing in the MCU belongs to me. I own my OCs and the subplots I put in.**

 **While I'm a bit late to the party thus far, how many of you guys saw the INFINITY WAR trailer? It looks pretty good and I really can't wait to see it. I've already heard a lot of people theorizing on who's going to die, too. My bet's on Cap, Iron Man, Vision, or Thor. What do you guys think?**

 **Leave a thought on what I should improve on.**

 **Thanks.**

 **Aiden St. Felix**


	2. Chapter II

_"I get it, that was your story. Look man I got one of those, too, okay but those stories that we tell that keep us going, sometimes they blind us. They take us to dark places, kinda place where I might beat the crap out of a good man, just for the fun of it. The people who love me, they pulled me back from that edge. Cole once you touch that darkness, it never goes away."_

-Dean Winchester; **from season 10 of Supernatural (2014)**

* * *

What was it about Mondays that were so terrible? Was it just a free-for-all, where everything that _could_ go wrong _would_ go wrong? Elisa couldn't even count on two hands how many times terrible things happened to her on Mondays. It was like some weird relationship between the two. When Elisa first started living with Alma, and after she officially got enrolled into school, Alma Menendez trusted her cousin to get to school on her own. There was an attempted discussion on how the Brooklyn area wasn't a familiar environment and how there was a high chance of getting lost, but Alma wasn't having it. To her, Elisa was fully capable of figuring out what she had to do. But it was only Elisa's luck that her first day of school would be on a Monday. In the end, she had absolutely _no_ _idea_ where she was going. Elisa got off on the wrong subway stop and had no idea where to go and no one was going to help her so she tried to figure out where to go on her own. By the time she made it to the high school, she already missed the first three periods, and by then, school officials were royally pissed at Elisa.

By the end of that day, Alma and Elisa had a yelling match and it ended up upsetting Alma's nine month old son, Mateo. Needless to say, Alma at least _attempted_ to be more helpful and gave Elisa a brief tour of where to go and what shortcuts to take.

But this particular Monday had to be the worst. It began with Elisa's alarm not going off and her oversleeping. Then it went to Alma trying to get Mateo ready for daycare, but he ended up throwing up all over his mother's work clothes. Go back to Elisa, and she'd end up waking up to the sound of Alma banging on her closed bedroom door, yelling at her to wake up. Everything seemed to go further and further downhill after that. Elisa's cell hadn't been plugged in all the way, so it didn't charge. Mateo threw up everywhere again, so Alma had to try and clean _that_ up. Alma didn't have time to change out of her vomit-soaked work clothes. On top of trying to get Elisa out of her room, Alma was also trying to get in touch with her boss _and_ Mateo's doctor. Everything was a disaster. More so for Alma, and Elisa recognized that. She wasn't going to assume _her_ problems outweighed her cousin's.

"Elle, I'm taking Mateo to the doctor," Alma cried, trying to juggle holding her infant son while trying to hold onto her other belongings as well. "Lock up for me when you leave and hurry up or you'll miss the train!"

When the sound of the apartment door closing resonated throughout the apartment, Elisa let out a sigh of relief. She could hear Alma muttering things under her breath as she navigated from room to room. Mateo's cries could be heard in the kitchen, where he was undoubtedly placed in his highchair. Elisa was trying desperately to get dressed, and make sure everything was in its proper place before leaving. She was _praying_ that her cell would charge a little bit in the short amount of time Elisa had left before heading out, and she was doing everything in her power to get all her homework organized in her backpack. And it was while she was haphazardly organizing her homework that Elisa realized the lab assignment she had for her advanced science class was still incomplete. The fact that it was due _that_ _day_ made it worse. With a groan, Elisa shoved it into her backpack.

 _Damn that school for putting me in an advanced class,_ she thought bitterly. Alma had been quick to register Elisa into a local high school even _before_ the fourteen year old moved in. While Elisa was grateful, the last place she expected to go to school was at Midtown. Midtown School of Science and Technology was, obviously, a school for people who excelled in the mechanical or scientific part of the spectrum. While it taught all the other required courses, it did rely heavily on the scientific department. When Elisa took the school's required placement exam, she did score little high, but still within range of her fellow freshmen. Unsurprisingly, however, she did excel when it came to science, more importantly biology. So the school put her in an advanced biology class. Which was _very_ overwhelming for an incoming freshman. The workload had to be double what an ordinary biology class was, and Elisa found herself struggling to keep up sometimes. If it wasn't for the kindness of classmate, Peter, Elisa was certain she'd fail. Peter's help, however, was rare. He seemed so wrapped up in his own world half the time that it was a wonder _he_ knew what was going on.

After zipping up her backpack, Elisa shrugged it on her shoulders and made sure everything was clean, every window was locked and secured, then left the apartment.

 **~o.o.o.o~**

Having lived with Alma for over four months was definitely interesting. Elisa got to help her older cousin raise her son, since the baby daddy bailed before the birth. She got to learn how to deal with taxes and paying off bills. If Alma ever got behind on bills or payments, Elisa would help with paying them off. If Mateo ever got ill, Elisa would try and do what she could to help him feel better. But in instances like that morning, where it was nearly impossible to do anything, Elisa knew that they'd have to make do with what they could. It'd be stressful for sure, but it was better than nothing.

Letting out a huff of air, Elisa watched as steam came out of her mouth in a thick cloud. It was winter and freezing outside. Plenty of people were taking their cars or taxis to work; hardly anyone ever _walked_ to where they needed to go in nearly freezing temperatures. One of many reasons why Elisa hated having to walk to get where she needed to go sometimes. Shoving her hands in the pockets of her sweatjacket, Elisa buried her nose into the scarf she had wrapped around her neck. She had just gotten off the subway, so she was trying to walk as fast as possible to the school before her feet froze off. Occasionally, one or two people would walk by, hardly giving her a single look. That was just how it was for Elisa. No one really looked at her; no one really noticed her. She was _there_ , but at the same time, she wasn't. At Midtown, people never noticed her unless someone physically pointed her out to them. She was able to glide through the halls unnoticed by pretty much everybody. Sometimes even _Flash_ _Thompson_ , the school's biggest bully, ignored her. _Sometimes_. Elisa could only hope he left her alone on that particular Monday. She just wasn't in the mood.

When the tips of her fingers started to sting, the familiar sensation that occurred before numbing, Elisa tried to pick up the pace. Despite the terrible partial warmth her sweatjacket pockets provided, it wasn't enough to keep her hands warm. She could've warn mittens, but who knows if Elisa would get tired of wearing them or not? Letting out another huff of air, Elisa watched as the steam disappeared around her. That was something she secretly enjoyed about the cold, being able to see her own breath. Second to that was the snow. Since Mateo wasn't quite at that age where snow was the coolest thing since sliced bread, that meant Elisa could snuggle up in a nice blanket and enjoy some indoor activities. Which usually meant whatever Alma could throw together on short notice. Listen to Christmas music? Sure! Play old board games? Sounds fun. Tell stories? Seems interesting enough. It passed the time, so could they really complain? And as long as Mateo was entertained to a certain degree, he'd be fine for a couple hours, too.

 _The school's just up ahead,_ Elisa thought. _If you hurry up just enough, you'd be able to get there faster without falling on your butt. Try to watch out for anything that looks too slippery, you'd hate to. . . ._

"Hey Martínez, nice outfit today!" The sound of Flash's mocking voice came screeching from a car that was practically _barreling_ down the road. While the city did its best to salt the roads to keep them from being super slippery, that didn't stop drivers like Flash from being total speed demons. Part of Elisa wondered what would happen if Flash managed to crash his car, but she'd shake the thought from her mind. It was too demented. But one thing she could say for sure, was that the comment did make Elisa's face heat up in embarrassment. A lot of the clothes she owned were hand-me-downs from Alma. Whatever didn't fit the older woman were given to the fourteen year old. Some of those clothes happened to be dated, as well. Very faintly, Elisa heard Flash's laughs as he drove off. Oh Elisa would give _anything_ for Flash to have a taste of his own medicine, but she knew that no one was willing to do something that risky.* But there had to be a day where someone would stick up for themselves, treat Flash the way he treated everyone else.

 _Wouldn't that be nice?_ she thought bitterly.

 **~o.o.o.o~**

Once at school, Elisa was thankful there was enough time for her to stop by her locker before the bell rang. Her hands were red and numb from being outside for so long, and she was trying to warm them up as much as possible. Effortlessly weaving her way through the crowds of people, Elisa finally made it to her locker. It was near one of the girl's bathrooms, which she was thankful for. She wouldn't have to travel _too_ far if she needed to seek refuge, for example. Rubbing her hands together for a split second, Elisa unlocked her locker and started digging through the stuff inside.

"Are you excited about the trip to OsCorp?" Elisa's ears perked at that. Midtown was taking a big field trip to OsCorp, one of the biggest field trips of the year. It was probably one of the most talked about events so far.

"I'm a little nervous," a girl responded. "OsCorp is so _big_. I can't even imagine what we'll see there."

"I heard Norman Osborn is going to be giving us the tour." The girl who asked the question sounded more giddy than her friend. "That's pretty awesome if you think about it."

After that, the conversation was drowned out by the bell. Elisa hurriedly got what she needed from her locker and slammed it shut.

* * *

 **(A/N):**

 **What'd you think? Whatever constructive criticism you guys have is welcome.**

 **Nothing in the MCU belongs to me, OK? All I own are my OCs and the subplots I put in. If you've got ideas for OCs or subplots, PM me or leave a review.**

 **As an added disclaimer, since this is before Peter gets his spidey powers, that also means Uncle Ben is still alive. What I think will be interesting is writing the infamous Uncle-Ben-death-scene with a Peter Parker as young as the one Tom Holland portrays. With Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield being a bit older than the version Holland portrays, I think it'll be more emotional and more depressing. That's probably just me, though. Let me know what you think about this.**

 **Let me know what I should improve on.**

 **Thanks.**

 **Aiden St. Felix**


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